


Star Lightning

by teito_the_potato



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: BAMF Lucy Heartfilia, F/M, Lucy not in Fairy Sphere for 7 year gap, Pradesh comes in after Tartarus, Pradeshverse (Fairy Tail), eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:55:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23673451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teito_the_potato/pseuds/teito_the_potato
Summary: Lucy was sent back to the mainland by Zeref before Fairy Sphere activated on Tenroujima. How do things change? Well to start, by the time the main group returns Lucy has turned into a badass and is now one of the strongest members of Fairy Tail. How does this effect the rest of the events? And how exactly does the Pradesh family get involved? Read to find out!
Relationships: Angel | Sorano Aguria/Midnight, Chelia Blendy/Wendy Marvell, Cobra | Erik/Cubellios | Kinana, Evergreen/Elfman Strauss, Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser, Jellal Fernandes/Erza Scarlet, Laxus Dreyar/Lucy Heartfilia, Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox, Natsu Dragneel/Lisanna Strauss
Comments: 37
Kudos: 337





	1. Tenroujima Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> The Pradesh family is created by the lovely Desna1 who allows them to be used in other works. I'm in love with almost all Pradeshverses, if you've never heard of this family then you should check out the tag, highly recommend!

**Chapter 1: Tenroujima Encounter**

Cana, Gildarts, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy had just returned to camp after Cana told Gildarts that she was his daughter and they were enjoying the regular shenanigans of Fairy Tail. Suddenly everyone felt a disturbing presence, similar to death, approaching their camp. Everyone jerked to attention and ran out into a line in the field next to the camp, all preparing for the worst. A lone man walks out who seems expressionless but Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Elfman, and Evergreen recognize him: the black wizard Zeref. 

“Ah, Fairy Tail,” said Zeref. He scanned the mages and saw Natsu but was shocked at the blonde who looked exactly like Anna and immediately recognized her as Anna’s descendant.

_Zeref, promise me, if you ever see someone of my family in danger, protect them from harm in my stead._

Recalling the promise he made to his dear friend he decided to send her back to the mainland. As well as place a seal on her so he knew her condition and whereabouts, as well as add a layer of protection should she encounter any of his tools. Outwardly he looked at her keys with distaste.

“A celestial spirit mage. I can’t have you interfering now.” While he said this, he raised his hand and cast the spell at her stomach. Of course, the placing would be excruciating so she screamed and coughed up blood as she was blasted back and into a rather large tree trunk. He instantly became aware of her condition and learned he broke some ribs with that impact but was surprised she already had some from the night before. He was impressed as she didn’t tell anyone and still faced Hades with vicious tenacity.

“LUCY!!!” Screamed Natsu, Erza and Gray who were right next to her, they started running towards her form that was across the field.

“Begone.” Zeref said as he cast the spell to send her back to the guild. Lucy disappeared into a whirlpool of black and had a frantic expression on despite her pain.

“WHAT DID YOU DO!!?” Natsu screeched at Zeref who looked amused at his reaction and furious face. He did a quick glance around to the fellow mages and saw the look mirrored on every face. He smirked despite the rise in magic power from all of them.

“She’s not dead. I sent her back to your guild so she can’t interfere.” Zeref looked towards the sky as he said this. “He’s here.”

An earsplitting roar was heard throughout the island. Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy and Gildarts all recognized it.

“Is that…” Wendy gasped and turned skyward.

“No way!” Gajeel exclaimed.

“The roar of a dragon!” Natsu shouted and turned to see a massive black figure approaching at an incredible speed.

“It’s him!” Gildarts said turning to the fast approaching dragon.

“It seems you have other things to worry about” With that Zeref disappeared into a whirlwind of black, similar to what he did with Lucy.

A huge black magic circle appeared on the roof inside Fairy Tail.

“What in the world!” Macao yelled.

Suddenly a black vortex appeared from it and dropped Lucy out of it who fell onto a table with a cry. Everyone was shocked at how she appeared out of nowhere, but everyone was alarmed at how hurt she was. All knew that would never happen at the advancement test, plus no one in the guild had magic that could do that. Macao ran up to Lucy who was barely conscious. She had a glowing black magic circle on her stomach and clearly broken ribs plus various scrapes and bruises covering her body.

“LUCY! What happened!?” Macao practically screamed with worry.

“Grimoire Heart… Attacked… Zeref… showed up. Acnologia is coming. Get help!” Lucy exclaimed. She had started out weak but grew with fever as she realized the danger her friends were in. She tried to get up but started coughing and a startling amount of blood came up with it.

“Hold still! Jet get Porlyusica! Kinanna and Droy start calling the council and other guilds! Don’t worry Lucy we’ll get them help, just stop moving! You’re severely injured!” Macao was worried dearly for his guildmates, but they had Markov and Gildarts. Lucy was in dire straits right in front of him, he had to do something. Thankfully those that had gathered around Lucy took action right away. Laki ran up with the first aid kit but there wasn’t much they could do as they didn’t want to move her. In a few minutes Jet ran back in with his high speed carrying a disgruntled Porlyusica.

“What was that for you stupid human! Don’t just come into my house and grab me!” She yelled and a broom appeared out of nowhere to smack at Jet.

“Please! I beg of you, help Lucy!” Macao yelled and got on to the ground and begged. Porlyusica turned and seemed alarmed at the state of Lucy. She was aware of the guild happenings and knew she should have been at Tenroujima.   
  


“What terrible wounds! How did this happen child? You, get a bed in the infirmary ready!” She asked Lucy surprisingly nice. Macao could tell Lucy couldn’t talk so he stepped in, “She fell from the roof in a black vortex and said that Grimoire Heart attacked the island, something about Zeref showing up and Acnologia coming. We’re already calling to send help. We have a bed ready as well but didn’t want to move her.”

“Good thing you didn’t, from what I can tell her ribs are practically in pieces and it looks like there’s some spinal damage. Wakaba, use your smoke to pick her body up without moving her too much and take her to the infirmary.” Internally Porlyusica was freaking out as Markov was on the island but she trusted in the blessing of Tenroujima as well as the divine protection of the first master. She was alarmed at the seal on Lucy’s stomach as she recognized it as a curse of Zeref. From what she could tell it was a curse of protection which caused her great confusion as she realized this is where most of Lucy’s injuries came from. Some did look older, but still. Once in the infirmary she set to work doing what she could for the child in front of her.

The others left in the guild paced frantically, awaiting news of their friends. It had been six hours and they had yet to hear back from the council, Blue Pegasus, or Lamia Scale, nor have they heard anything about Lucy’s condition. As if jinxing it Porlyusica stepped out of the infirmary looking slightly ragged.

“How is she!?” Macao yelled.

“Not good, I was correct in my earlier statement, her ribs were practically in pieces from numerous blows and repeated impacts injured her spine. Don’t give me that face, I did what I do best, and she will have a full recovery. It will take time and she will have a hard time walking for a few months, but nothing is permanent. She’s currently unconscious, I shall be staying here for a few days to monitor her.” Porlyusica sighed, it really was a close call, one of the pieces of rib had nicked a lung. She didn’t want to worry them more so she left that out. “Have you heard anything from the rescue teams.” At the shaking of heads, she was worried, but knew they would all eventually come back alive.

They got the news the next day, Tenroujima island had completely vanished from a breath attack by Acnologia. The members were distraught and crying when they heard a crash from the infirmary. Most ran in to see what was happening. Lucy had woken up and it looked like she was trying to get up.

“Don’t move child, you’ll make you wounds worse.” Porlyusica said holding out a hand to stop her.

“What happened!? Why are you all crying!?” Lucy asked frantically.

“It’s gone! Tenroujima vanished without a trace after a breath attack from Acnologia! They’re all dead! LEVY!!!” Jet shouted. Lucy looked taken aback and tilted her head down so her bangs covered her eyes for a minute, but when she looked up, they had strong determination and light in them.

“They’re alive.” She insisted so strongly almost everyone there just automatically believed her.

“What do you mean! How could anyone survive that monster!?” Wakaba asked, crying for his guildmates.

“Tenroujima’s blessing prevents those with the crest of Fairy Tail to die, along with the divine blessing of the first master I’m sure they’re alive. They will come home. We just have to wait for them.” Lucy said adamantly.

“This child is correct; it is why Markov always holds the advancement test at the island.” Porlyusica added.

Everyone felt hope filling their chests at their statements and decided to protect this home for their dear friends and wait for their safe return, no matter how long it takes.


	2. Recovery and Rebound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm not sure how often I'll be updating as I'm currently trying to finish out my senior year of high school so it will probably be relatively sporadic until this summer. 
> 
> Hope you're enjoying my first fic, can't wait until I get more time to work on it.

**Chapter 2: Recovery and Rebound**

It had been a few weeks since the news of Tenroujima. The day it happened in the infirmary Bisca pointed out that they were down their core members including all their S-Class. Lucy stepped in and proved her title as the brains of Fairy Tail and came up with a solution, recruitment and eventually more S-Class advancement tests. She also realized they’d have to do something financially to keep the guild afloat. Thankfully she had the background and education of an heiress, so the business solutions came easy to her, they were going to be doing festivals and exhibitions matches to gain money. Of course, she was still too injured to participate in any of these activities or help prepare them as she was busy with something else. The other day she realized that friends and family of the Tenrou Group (as they’d eventually started calling them) didn’t know about what had befallen their loved ones. Lucy had done research in her few weeks in bed and came across a description of the three grand Fairy spells, Fairy Law and Fairy Glitter she already knew about but upon discovering Fairy Sphere she had deducted what happened to her friends. She was extremely depressed that they most likely wouldn’t be back for several years but had full faith in their safe return. With these thoughts in mind she set out where she knew first, Erza’s friends.

As she was still injured and getting around on crutches it proved to be a bit difficult, but found Wally, Sho, and Millianna, who were alarmed at her state of injury and crestfallen at the news of Erza. However, they had faith she would be back one day, and decided to stay in contact with Lucy. Her stop today was the council to visit Jellal. As she approached his cell, she saw two members standing nearby and one shocking him and laughing.

“What do you think you’re doing!” She shouted alarmed at their treatment. The frog looked back with an annoyed expression. “Punishing the one who destroyed the council! Giving him what he deserves!” He started shocking him more and Lucy abandoned her crutches to tackle the demented frog. “Stop! If you actually took the time to look into his records you would know he was being possessed and it wasn’t actually him! How dare you do this to an unresisting person incapable of defending themselves. You’re despicable. Leave! I’m here for a visit.” She tried to act dignified, but it was kind of hard when she couldn’t get up and would have to crawl back to her crutches. Thankfully the other frog helped her up and handed Lucy her crutches and nodded at her, eyes conveying that he wasn’t okay with it either. Once they left, she turned to Jellal who had just started recovering from the shocks to look up.

“Lucy… what are you doing here?” Once he actually looked at her, he found her state of injury shocking as he knew she was always with Erza who would vehemently protect her friends. “How are you so injured that you can’t walk? What happened!?” He was abruptly reminded of what happened a few weeks ago and felt dread settle in his stomach, which only grew when Lucy explained the situation. He didn’t know why but he felt he could trust Lucy and also believed in Erza’s safe return.

“I can’t stay much longer, its too hard for me to stand this long right now, but I’ll come back, and I’ll work on getting you out of here. You’re Erza’s dear comrade, and I can’t stand by while you’re being hurt like this. I’m not sure how long an appeal will take but I’ll get you out of here.” Jellal was touched at her words but at the same time expected no less of Erza’s friends.

It took time but with the help of Ultear and Meledy, who met up with Lucy to help, they arranged for the release of Jellal, although he was to remain in Lucy’s custody for a year. After much persuasion Lucy convinced them to join Fairy Tail instead of forming an independent guild under the agreement that they could go after all Zeref or dark guild related missions. Truthfully the three weren’t all that against it as they would be able to repay the guild they caused the most harm to. All four of them ended up staying in a house Lucy bought, and when she was finally healed, they walked in on her training. When she stated her intention of getting stronger so she could prevent a second tragedy such as Tenroujima occurring, all three were thrilled to help.

Jellal taught her Heavenly Body Magic as it was similar to Celestial Spirit Magic, and she was almost as graceful as him doing Meteor in under a year. She also learned thought projection from him. Ultear aided her in hand to hand combat training along with Loke and Capricorn. She also unlocked her second origin. Meledy helped with sensing magical power and rating enemy strength. Lucy also trained with her spirits, Capricorn taught her meditation to help focus and expand her magic. Sagittarius taught her how to avoid projectiles and shoot a bow. Taurus taught her how to fight larger opponents. Virgo taught her how to fight with her whip. Aquarius taught her how be a much better swimmer through attacking her. However, Lucy not only trained with her spirits, she spent time with them on a regular basis. Not only to increase her magic, but to get to know them better, Aries and Virgo spent time teaching her how to sew and make clothes. Capricorn and her read poetry together. And she took Aquarius to romantic water scenes and would summon Scorpio so they could have a date in the human world for a change. All the spirits could feel her pain at losing her friends but were touched at her getting to know them better. So, when the seal wouldn’t go away on her stomach and she learned the Star Dresses they were more than happy to take her request to the King and alter their appearances to cover her stomach.

Thanks to her rigorous training Lucy was the first mage to advance to S-Class through the test. Despite Jellal and Ultear automatically receiving that title when they joined, they along with Meledy couldn’t be prouder when Lucy passed. The four of them all became quite close so even after the year was up, all of them stayed in the house they had bought together. When Ultear, Jellal, and Meledy formed team Crime Sorciere and invited her they had mixed emotions when she denied and said that she was a proud member of Team Natsu and would remain a solo mage until they returned. Of course, she would still accompany them on missions, but she never did join their team. Throughout the years they arranged for the release of Cobra, along with Hot Eye who had a very touching reunion with Wally arranged by Lucy. The two of them are out traveling the world together while Erik joined Fairy Tail to be with Kinanna. Thanks to the efforts of Lucy and the rest Fairy Tail never lost its glory and remains the number one guild in Fiore. Since that fateful day, seven years have passed.


	3. Their Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed to squeeze some stress writing in over the weekend! This chapter is a little short but I hope you all continue to read and enjoy this Fairy Tail story, I'm really excited to get to some upcoming plot points! 
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments, it really warms my heart to read them!

“We’re back!” Yelled a voice and the doors were kicked down. The members inside were alarmed until they saw who exactly it was in the doorway. Cries of joy could be heard around the guild.

“LEVY!” Jet and Droy screamed and tackled her into a hug (Thanks to Lucy’s reassurances Droy didn’t get depressed and turn to food so he’s normal sized).

“You haven’t aged a day!” Laki exclaimed and she cried tears of joy. Around the guild shouts of tearful ‘welcome home’s’ sounded out. Most loudly from Romeo.

Natsu however was looking around and noticed a missing presence. “Where’s Lucy?” He practically demanded. All other members of the Tenrou group tuned sharply to Macao for answers as he had been left in charge when they left.

“She’s fine.” He assured. “She’s on a mission but should be back any minute.” All the members of the Tenrou group let out a sigh of relief as the tension that had filled them since Lucy disappeared left. Then smiled at each other softly as they all had the same reaction. The members that had joined in their absence looked at the scene fondly as they saw the ‘Light of Fairy Tail’ had always been that way.

Suddenly a very familiar voice yelled out, “Master, I’m back! Lahar sends his thanks…” She had pushed the door open with her back as she was carrying a crate but when she turned around and saw the smiling faces of her missing friends she froze and dropped the box in shock. She immediately started tearing up. Natsu smiled at the sight and said, “Welcome home, Luce.” She started crying at that and ran at them and tackled Natsu, Gray and Erza in a hug with surprising strength. “I missed you!!!” Lucy sobbed as she embraced her long-lost comrades. All three smiled fondly at the girl they had long considered their little sister who wasn’t so little anymore. Levy came up from the side “Wow Lu-chan you’ve barely aged.” Lucy laughed at that, she had grown a few inches and her features had lost some of the roundness of being a teenager. Her style of dress had definitely changed as she was in a black skirt that went to her knees with black tights on accompanied by combat boots. She was wearing a modest white tank top with what looked like an aurora going around her stomach and back. Along with a sturdy looking white jacket. She had a golden belt around her skirt, but her keys and whip were nowhere to be seen. She also had her hair up in a bun with only her bangs left to frame her face. “I wasn’t always going to fight in heels you know.” She teased. The Tenrou group seemed startled at the word fight, and Erza asked, “Fight?”

“Ah right, Master! I completed the emergency suppression without incident!” Lucy yelled to Macao who nodded looking not at all surprised at her answer. The Tenrou groups jaws dropped. When Lucy turned and saw their faces she laughed and decided to poke fun at them, “What did you think I was doing the past seven years?” She winked to make sure to keep the topic light, she still saw some guilt flash across their faces.

“She’s really gotten stronger,” Ultear said fondly. The guild was no stranger to accepting former enemies, but they were still surprised. Especially when they saw who walked in with her, Meledy and Jellal. “Ultear!?” Gray exclaimed at the same time Juvia went “Meledy!?” However, Erza’s “Jellal!?” was the loudest. They all shared a look and explained what had happened and included Erik and Richard. They all nodded firmly with what had happened and welcomed them with open arms. After getting over the initial shock, the party that followed could be heard throughout Magnolia and the town knew that the missing members had returned.


	4. Catching Up Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, I had to take a short pause to finish school. I think my brain might have melted out my ears on a few occasions, but I officially graduated high school as of this Friday!
> 
> Thanks for being so patient with me, I will be returning to a regular updating schedule, thanks to it now being summer I will probably be updating every 10-15 days depending on how much I have to work that week. For updates/announcements and eventually art for me stories check out my tumblr!   
> https://teito-the-potato.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> All the love to my loyal readers,  
> Kenzie

“Lucy!” Gray shouted up at her as she was walking up the stairs to the second floor, “We aren’t allowed on the second floor.” He and the rest of the Tenrou group blinked as the rest of the guild hall laughed at what he said. Lucy smiled fondly down at them with a flash of guilt going across her face that only Natsu, Gray and Erza could pick up on. “Gray, I became S-Class years ago.”

“Congratulations Lucy!” Erza exclaimed once she got over her surprise. Macao added his input, “She’s one of our core members, and one of the few S-Class mages we have.” He said with pride. The Tenrou grouped wondered how strong the celestial mage had gotten over the years as they could all sense a drastic increase in magic power coming from her, one that rivaled Erza. “Fight me, Lucy!” Natsu exclaimed with his usual fireball personality. Lucy smirked down at him while inside she was joyous at seeing him again. While she had gotten over the crush she had on him during his absence, the time apart did nothing to lessen her fondness towards her best friend. Before she could reply Romeo cut in, “I wouldn’t if I were you Natsu-nii. You’ll lose.” The Tenrou group was surprised at the statement as Romeo had always been a Natsu fanboy. “What?” Natsu asked Romeo. “She’s one of our strongest members, only topped by Jellal and Ultear, you’ll get your ass handed to you if you try and fight Lucy-nee.” He explained with a straight face on. Before Natsu could explode at Romeo Lucy cut in, “It’s up to him Romeo, you know how Natsu is. Natsu, if you want to fight me, we can do it at the exhibition match next week.” The Tenrou group was surprised at Lucy calmly excepting to fight Natsu without a hint of fear on her face, in fact she had a confident smirk on. “Let’s hope your skills haven’t… waned.” Most of the guild laughed at the statement while Natsu was mock affronted at the usual teasing in the guild. However, he was concerned about the guilt he had seen on his best friends face earlier.

Gajeel stepped in and asked about the exhibition matches. “In order to not go under financially I came up with a few solutions, one of which is that we host a few battles every few months and charge 1,500 jewels to get in and take 10% of each bet made on the fights.” Lucy explained. “This time we’re inviting the Trimens of Blue Pegasus to fight against Max, Warren and Laki in a three on three match. Me and Natsu can be the second fight, but we still have to decide on the third.” Lucy explained. Erza smirked when an idea came to mind, “Mira, want to see how we compare?” Her challenge was met with a smirk from the resident she-devil, “Sounds fun!” Kinanna laughed and signed the four of them up, “It’s in exactly one week at the arena at the edge of town.”

Lucy smiled and continued up to the second floor to put away what was in the crate she dropped earlier that day. A few items broke but they were easily restored thanks to Ultear. Lucy walked into the guild master’s office and was surprised to walk in on Markov and Laxus. “Oh! I’m so sorry, it’s a force of habit to enter without knocking.” Laxus raised an eyebrow at that but Markov was curious, “What do you mean Lucy?”

“Ah, I was Macao’s advisor and took care of the financial aspect of the guild in your absence. If you’re retaking your position, I can show you how we’ve reorganized.” Lucy explained with a smile, “I was happy to put my education to use for something good. I also handled most of the paperwork as Macao was terrible at it.” She added the last part with a grimace. Markov looked at her sympathetically, “What were you coming in here for?” Lucy walked by him and entered the pin on the vault as she explained, “I was bringing up the jewel I got from the emergency suppression, I’ve already payed off my house so I typically donate most of my earnings to the guild.” Markov looked over her shoulder and was shocked at how much was in the safe. “This isn’t all of it either, we keep the majority in the bank downtown.” Markov practically started bawling at how much money it could be. Lucy teased him, “but with the return of you guys I’m concerned about the damage bills.” Not clueing him in to the fact that Ultear took care of most damage caused by guild members with her time arc. Markov’s tears turned to despair. Lucy looked over at Laxus who was hiding a small smirk at her teasing. She realized what he was in here for and got uncharacteristically serious, “Master, this is just my opinion, but I strongly believe Laxus should be let back into the guild. He spent a long time thinking about his actions and saved the lives of those who went to fight Hades. I’m not sure what happened as to family dynamics, but I can tell Laxus has changed and I believe everyone deserves to be together after what happened. Everyone deserves a second chance, you’ve given it to others, so give it to your grandson.” She met Markov’s gaze during her little speech but could see Laxus’ shocked expression out of the corner of her eyes and that just filled her with more determination. She kept her staring contest up with Markov after most would have looked away. He eventually sighed and rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile, “I was already going to let him return to the guild, but that speech certainly helped.” His smile turned teasing at the end and Lucy couldn’t help the small blush that spread across her cheeks. She managed to stammer out a “G-Good.” And with that she shut the safe, turned around and left the office without looking at Laxus, if she had turned, she would have seen his grateful and awed expression. Once she left Markov turned to his grandson, “She’s a good one you know, and she forgave you for Fantasia ages ago.” Laxus’ smile grew as he replied with a “I know.”

Once Lucy had put away the rest of the items she earned into her locker and rid herself of her blush, she headed back out to spend some time with her friends. She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down at everyone smiling fondly at how they were just the same. When Laxus left the office with his knew guild mark he saw her and couldn’t help but think she looked beautiful, he was surprised at his thoughts but was also concerned about her as she had been left behind for so long.


	5. Catching Up Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a special thanks for being so patient during the break, I’m doing a double update as a treat. Hope you guys enjoy! 
> 
> Always love the comments you guys leave, they fill me with such love! <3 <3 <3

Once Lucy had come back downstairs, she was bombarded with hugs from those she hadn’t yet gotten. Cana squished her and whispered that she was so proud in her ear, Mira made her face turn blue and the others laughed at that. Juvia even came up and gave her a hug saying that, “Even if you are my love rival, Juvia is glad you’re okay.” Lucy smiled fondly at that, “Thanks Juvia, even though you never had to worry about it, you definitely don’t now.” Mira’s ears perked up at this and turned around with a sly look on her face. Lucy saw it and denied it before she got anywhere, “Mira don’t even start, I don’t have anyone but what I meant was that I’m 24 now. I’m a lot older than you guys at this point.” Mira’s smirk fell at that and everyone was reminded exactly how much time has passed. Lucy realizing her mistake quickly added, “don’t look so glum! Lot’s of exciting things have happened while you were gone!” At the end of her statement she had turned and spotted Asuka, walked over to her and picked her up with a smirk. “Lucy-nee!” Little Asuka shouted out with happiness, “You’re back!” Lucy put Asuka up on her shoulders, “Yeah! And this is everyone we talked about, remember Aunty Mira?” Asuka’s eyes shined with glee, “The one who wanted mommy and daddy to get together right?” Lucy nodded, “And do you want to point out who mommy and daddy are?” She asked with a smirk seeing the two trying to creep out the back. When Asuka laughed at Lucy’s teasing glint she pointed out Alzack and Bisca and yelled “Mommy, daddy, don’t run away!” When everyone turned and saw them holding hands Mira squealed while Erza turned red in the face, Lisanna smiled and added a congratulations pointing at their wedding rings. With that the mood became cheery again. 

Asuka laughed at her parents teasing with glee from Lucy’s shoulders. “Lucy-nee, Lucy-nee, are these the friends in the stories you always tell me?” Asuka asked, eyes shining at the chance to meet her sisters’ dear people. Lucy smiled fondly at that, “Yeah, the one who already lost his shirt is Gray, Erza is the redhead in armor and Natsu is the pinkette with the white scarf.” Asuka scanned each of them with a surprisingly calculative gaze and then brightened up and said, “Thanks for always saving Lucy-nee when she was in trouble! She really missed you though, so you better give her lots of hugs!” The little girl teased, and everyone couldn’t help but think how sweet it was despite Lucy looking like a tomato. Erza smiled softly and as soon as Lucy put Asuka down caught her with her signature skull-crushing hug. Despite Lucy’s ears ringing she had one of the brightest smiles on her face that anyone had ever seen. It only grew when Erza grabbed Natsu and Gray. Once she let go, Happy’s “LUUUSSHHHYYY!!” As he dived into her chest with tears had everyone smiling.

Once the commotion had settled down Lucy went up to Mira with a sheepish smile and a flushed face, who was with her siblings, Laxus, and the Thunder God Tribe, “Hey Mira, I have a request.” Mira smiled at her friend who had grown so much, “What can I do for you Lucy?” Lucy just grew redder, “Um, so, I’m not trying to insult Kinanna or anything, but I was wondering if I could have one of your strawberry milkshakes, hers aren’t the same.” As Lucy grew redder as she talked, Mira beamed, and the others smiled fondly at her antics. “Of course, I’ll be right back.” With that she scampered off into the kitchen with a million-dollar smile while Lucy was practically steaming from embarrassment. Lisanna laughed, “Don’t worry about it Lucy, I would miss Mira-nee’s cooking too.” Once Lucy’s face had calmed down Freed just had to get it to come back, though he didn’t mean to, “Lucy, I thank you for your words to the Master about Laxus and getting him reinstated to the guild.” Lucy flushed, “Ah, it’s no problem, it wouldn’t be the same without him here, and you guys shouldn’t be separated after everything you went through.” Evergreen smirked at the ‘wouldn’t be the same without him’ part but it quickly disappeared when Lucy made it sound like she wasn’t a part of it. “You were there too you know, and you defeated one of the 7 Kin of Purgatory and fought against Hades, not to mention facing down Zeref with us. Speaking of, were you okay? You looked really hurt?” Lucy grimaced at what Ever had said, “I was with Natsu when we fought the 7 Kin of Purgatory and I couldn’t do much against Hades. Um, I was already really wounded but when he sent me back, I fell from the roof into a table. It ended up injuring my spine and one of my broken ribs nicked a lung. I’m fine though. Jet got Porlyusica here in record time and she prevented any permanent damage for the most part.” Laxus quickly interrupted her pausing with a worried, “What do you mean for the most part?” Lucy’s grimace just grew, “My spine, it was more injured than she originally thought, and I couldn’t walk without crutches for a few months, it acts up occasionally, but I have special ointment for it so no worries!” Bixlow frowned, “That doesn’t sound like no worries Cosplayer.” Lucy pouted at the name, but you could see she was trying not to smile at it. “Really, it rarely acts up and I had Ultear and Meledy to help me when I couldn’t walk.” Mira came back with Lucy’s smoothie and everyone laughed as Lucy’s eyes practically sparkled. She thanked Mira and gave her a crushing hug and walked back to where Natsu, Gray, and Erza were. Laxus frowned as soon as she left. “Blondie definitely isn’t fine. Even if we ignore her injuries, she was left behind for seven years. There’s no way that didn’t affect her.” Everyone became more serious at that and once they filled Mira in, they glanced over at her, she was smiling fondly at Natsu and Gray fighting, but she had barely touched her milkshake and you could see her firsts clenching under the table. Her whole being practically screamed ‘I couldn’t protect them’.

Erik, who had come to the guild a little after the Tenrou Group returned, heard their conversation and thoughts, and decided to go talk to them. “Your concerns are well placed. She was a mess when you guys first disappeared. Even if she did discover Fairy Sphere, she blamed herself for not being able to save you all. She eventually admitted to me that she could have taken you all into the celestial spirit world and taken you all back to the mainland safely if she were still there. It was hard to watch, and I barely even knew her. As soon as she was healthy enough to move she started training. She would work herself into the ground, often training until she passed out.” Erik’s grimace only grew as he remembered what is was like. “Her hard work definitely payed off, she became S-Class within a year of you all disappearing, but it took a lot of work to convince her to take the test. She felt she didn’t deserve it since you all never even got the chance to finish your test. The only reason she agreed was because Jellal, Ultear, Meledy, and me spent days convincing her she deserved it. The only reason she agreed in the end was because Ultear pointed out that S-Class experience would help her grow as a mage. When she started training, her main purpose was to become strong enough to prevent another tragedy like Tenroujima from occurring. Despite our protests she firmly believes that if she were stronger, she could have protected you.” When finished he could only sigh at the faces those nearby were giving him. 

“Personally, I’m all for getting stronger, but that’s not the way to do it. Also, Blondie needs to get it in her head that there was nothing we could do, even Gildarts and Gramps couldn’t do anything.” Laxus replied with a steadily growing frown at the thought of her drowning in guilt for 7 years. “Right again, all she did was blame herself for 7 whole years, it eventually got better, but it’s still there. She gave me a real chance at life, I can never repay her for giving me this chance to be with Kinanna, so it was hard to just watch her fall apart. We pieced her back together the best we could, but I’m hoping that now that you guys are back you can convince her that there’s nothing to blame herself for.” The few who heard that nodded vehemently as Lucy had done something at least once for all of them. “Good. She’s certainly grown into a badass though, Kinanna told me Natsu challenged her to a fight, I can’t wait to see him get his ass handed to him.” He laughed at the thought and when he heard them wondering how much stronger she had really gotten he smirked. “You have no idea, the few times I’ve been able to see her fight recently it reminded me of Titania. Her enemies didn’t stand a chance and it was over in a flash. She’s learned lots of new magic so you’re in for a real treat next week. To give you an idea, three weeks ago she took out a whole dark guild on her own.” Everyone, even Laxus’ jaw dropped at that and Erik walked away with a laugh, excited to see their faces when they see how strong she’s gotten.


End file.
